Ignition coil and support therefor



. y 4, 1957 A. CATALANO 2,792,443

IGNITION COIL. AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed July 7, 1952 Anton/'0 Ca/a/anoINVENTOR mm.) 9 MW Fig. 2

ATTORNEYS United States PatentO IGNITION COIL AND SUPPORT THEREFORAntonio Catalano, Milan, Italy Application July 7, 1952, Serial No.297,468 Claims. (Cl. 17459) This invention has for its object to providea removable ignition coil housing and a fixed support therefor, formotor cars, motorcycles and other units having explosion engines.

The ignition coils of motor cars are generally enclosed within boxes ofcircular shape, around which a collar is fixed, the flattened ends ofwhich collar present holes for the passage of bolts by means of whichthe collar and the coil box are fixed on the vehicle in the proximity ofthe engine. The terminals for the feed wires, as well as the terminalfor the high tension cable are all located on the coil box. For changingthe coil of a motor car, it is necessary to take off the high tensioncable, to disconnect the feed wires and to unscrew the fixing bolts ofthe collar. This latter operation presents difliculties some times whenthe screws are located in inaccessible places. At least a screwdriver isnecessary for the coil changing operation. The high tension terminal,being located very near to the feed wire terminals, may easily cause acurrent discharge from the first to the second, especially when theweather is humid or when water becomes spread over the coil.

The present invention eliminates such inconveniences by providing aremovable coil housing and a fixed support or holder therefor, in whichthe coil housing is held by resilient holding means in such a mannerthat the coil housing can be inserted into and removed from said supportwithout the necessity of using any tool and with an easy and speedy handoperation.

Advantageously, the terminals for the feed wires are located on thesupport and are connected to contacts. Other contacts are located on theoutside of the coil housing and connected with the coil contained in thecoil housing, and both the said support contacts and the said coilhousing contacts are arranged in such way that they touch each otherwhen the coil housing is inserted into the holder or support.

According to one embodiment of this invention, the high tension terminalalso may be fastened on the holder or support and may have a contactadapted to cooperate with a corresponding contact on the coil housing.

The above and other features of this invention will be better understoodfrom the following specification with reference to the annexed drawing,in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show respectively a front elevation and a top view of afirst embodiment of the removable coil housing and fixed supporttherefor, according to this invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a second embodiment of the invention.

In Figures 1 and 2, 1 designates the coil housing, which is of circularcross section and has on its upper end the terminal 1" for the hightension cable and in the lower part an annular groove 1'. The coilhousing is formed from any suitable electrically non-conductivematerial. At the upper part of the housing, two electrically conductivecontact strips 2 are located at diametrically opposed points and areconnected to the coil windings contained within the housing 1, as shownin Fig. 1.

The holder for the housing is constituted by an open collar 3, theflattened ends 3' of which have holes for the passage of fixing bolts bymeans of which the support is fastened onto the car or other fixedsupport. Two vertical spring leaves are fixed, for instance by means ofscrews 5, to said collar 3 at diametrically opposed points. The lowerends 4' of said leafs are bent so as to fit within the annular groove 1of the coil housing in order to hold it in the holder. The upper ends ofthese leaves are provided with the terminals 7 for the feed wires, asWell as with flexible contacts 6 fixed to said terminals. The leaves 4are electrically insulated from the terminals 7 and the contacts 6. Thehousing 1 has some vertical guiding protuberances on the outside of theupper part of its wall, so as to facilitate insertion into the holder orsup port in the right position and to prevent rotation of the housing inthe holder.

it will be quickly understood that for removing the housing 1 from itsholder, it will only be necessary to disconnect the high tension cablefrom the terminal 1" and to pull the housing 1 from the holder byovercoming the resistance of the flexible ends 4 of the holding leaves4. In the same way and with the same rapidity a new housing can beinserted into the support, which remains fixed. The embodiment shown inFigure 3 is further improved by the fact that the collar 3 is providedon its front with an arm 8 which carries the terminal for the hightension cable, as well as a contact 10 connected to said terminal. Theupper part of the housing 1 also carries a contact, as shown in Fig. 3,so that when the housing is inserted into the holder, the said contacts10 are touching each other. In such way both the feed wires and the hightension cable are permanently fixed to terminals located on the support,and the housing can be removed from its support 3, 4, 4, 8, and a newhousing can be inserted, without any other operation of disconnectingwires, cables or other parts.

It is understood that the feature of this invention, consisting broadlyof a removable coil housing and a fixed support therefor, can berealized in other ways than those described and illustrated in theannexed drawings, without departing from the limits of this invention.

The removable ignition coil housing and fixed support therefor,according to this invention, offers the following advantages: Ability tostore a reserve coil housing on the car because of the absence of anyencumbering projection. Possibility of controlling the motor when itdoes not start, in order to determine whether the defect depends uponthe coil, by quickly changing the coil. Ability to remove the coil andhousing in order to prevent theft of the car. Quick changing of the coilwhen it has become hot after a long running. Exclusion of electricdischarges from the high tension cable terminal to the feed wireterminals, because of the larger distance between them.

What I claim is:

l. in an ignition coil mounting assemblage, a strap like holder havingmeans for fixedly securing it to a support, a housing of insulativematerial having exteriorally disposed and axially extending electricallyconductive contact strips, said housing being axially slidable into theholder and embraced and held thereby, yieldable cooperative meanscarried by the holder and housing for releasably securing the housingwithin the holder, said holder having electrically conductive springcontacts extending transversely thereof and insulated therefrom andslidably engageable with said contact strips, and feed cable con--nections connected to said spring contacts.

2. An ignition coil mounting assemblage as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid yieldable cooperative means in eludes spring fingers carried by theholder and extending transversely thereof and having inwardly curvedfree ends, said housing having a groove arranged transversely of thecontact strips and in which the free ends releasably fit, said spring'fingers carrying the spring contacts and the feed cable connections.

3. An ignition coil mounting assemblage as claimed in claim 1, includingmeans for orienting the contact strips and the spring contacts forrelative axial movement and for preventing rotation of the housing inthe holder.

4. An ignition coil mounting assemblage as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe contact strips are arranged on diametrically opposite points on thehousing.

5. An ignition coil mounting assemblage as claimed in References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,415,945 Gilson Feb.18, 1947 2,462,490 Hallett Feb. 22, 1949 2,512,796 Hartzell June 27,1950 2,701,345 Henry Feb. 1, 1955

